Trust (A Far Cry Story)
by Andromeda's Girl
Summary: "You'll be the hero. And then... you'll choose." She was never meant to be the hero. She didn't want to. But once she decides to take matters into her own hands and pull Faith Seed out of the river, she finds that the world doesn't let itself change so easily as she expected.
1. Chapter 1

It couldn't be.

How could it possibly be? How was she able to defeat her? She didn't have the strength, she didn't have the power, she didn't have the faith The Father put into her. Yet here she was, resisting to the Bliss, resisting to the beautiful world that she wanted to give her. Faith didn't understand. She had shown her the path, offered here to guide her to the garden, where she would be safe for the miserable world she was part of. When all that didn't help, she had to use more… persuasive methods. She didn't want to. But she had to. She didn't want to betray The Father, or was it the wrath that he would unleash upon her if she didn't follow his orders? That thought was confusing. The Father loved her, he didn't want to hurt her. Yet that was the first of doubts that revealed themselves when the Deputy didn't give in once she killed the marshal and the mayor. She had expected her to give in after that, but she didn't. Instead, Faith saw something starting to burn in her eyes… something which scared her. At first she thought it was the fire of the Great Collapse; the sign that this lady was indeed the emissary of the Devil, coming to take her for an entirety in hell. She'd be a martyr. Then she realized it was nothing like that, and it was instead a feeling she knew herself; grief, anger, rage. Who she had been before she met the Father. Robbed of her friends, her life, her purity. All of that came back to her in a few, burning strikes. It had hurt. A lot. Everything had come to fall down around her, collapsing like the mountains in the prophecies of The Father. It was when Rachel emerged; the Rachel she had tried to suppress, the Rachel which made her weak.

And it was then that she fully realized the Deputy could really defeat her, maybe even kill her, and she began to scream: " _It's not my fault! None of this is my fault! You think I wanted this? He plied me with drugs, he threatened me! I was seventeen! I was just a child!"_

But the Deputy didn't listen. She really was going to kill her. Maybe she had it coming all along. In those last moments, where she felt her body being drained from faith and life, bullets penetrating her limbs, she accepted it. Broken, injured and lost, rejected by the Deputy (who backed away with a look of disgust on her face as soon as she reached out to her), she accepted that she was alone after all, and she just let go.

" _You'll be the hero. And then... you'll choose."_


	2. Chapter 2

_Splash_

Goddamnit, she hadn't been meaning to do it. She hadn't been meaning to do any of this shit. All she ever wanted was to do what she was good at; helping people, and without getting in the spotlights all the time if that was possible. She didn't need to be a hero, a lifesaver, the fucking Dark Knight of Hope County. Truth be told, she'd been quite good at pulling that off before everything went to shit. She was just… Ann. Deputy Joanne Hawkins, to be exact. Your friendly neighborhood officer, at your service. There for those who needed her, just as invisible as every other Spread Eagle-visitor (at least, the ones that weren't wasted on a regular basis) if her help wasn't required.

Sometimes she thought of her daddy, back in Texas. They had owned a pretty big ranch, but he had never let all of that go to this head. All he did was taking care of his cattle and looking after his family. Of course she had had the guts to ask him (like the little asskicker she was) why he never wanted to expand, or become rich, or famous, and his answers had always been remarkably simple. " _Sweet, sweet Annie,_ " he used to say, " _it's a big damn world out there. There'll always be people wanting to play along with the big game and they'll always find themselves losing a lot more than they bargained for, I reckon. People like you and me, we're happy with what we have and we ought to accept that. You don't need to play along with the big game to be happy, Annie. Let the high folks handle their business. Maybe one day they'll end up learning that luck can't always be found in the big things._ "

 _Luck can't always be found in the big things._ It was now that she actually thought about it that she realized that creed had been the base for pretty much the rest of her life. After she'd finished school, she decided to move to Hope County, Montana; the state she had come to love through some of their trips and her own journeys. After some helping out at the farms in Holland Valley, sheriff Whitehorse decided to look after her and offer her a job at the local sherrif's station – Junior Deputy. Perhaps he'd known her daddy. It wasn't much and it certainly didn't have the best pay grade in the world, but in some way it had been the best thing that had ever happened to her. She could help people. She was an outsider, but she was just fine with that. The other deputies hadn't thought much of her. Nor had the sheriff. Why would they? She hadn't grown up here and although she knew most of the residents of Holland Valley, there was still a shitload of places out there she didn't even know the name of.

But, you know, it was fine. It was all fine. She had small things and she had found her luck in them. Just like daddy had always told her.

And if it weren't for that _fucking_ cult…

That night at Joseph Seed's compound had ruined pretty much everything. She had been shot at, beaten up, injured, bruised, kidnapped, drugged and yet that all felt like nothing compared to the fact she'd been thrown straight into a war, fought here on the fields and in the forests that had always seemed so peaceful. Hell, they couldn't even leave good old Cheeseburger alone. And ironically, she was right in the center of it all, as the goddamn face of the resistance. No longer just Deputy who…? No, now she was forced to play along with the big game. Supposed to be like a goddamn George Washington on a horse, riding the troops to victory with the Star-Spangled Banner in one hand and a rifle in the other.

But she didn't want to.

She wasn't meant to.

 _You'll be the hero. And here you are, looking at just another product of your own destruction. You're the savior of Henbane River, the one who took down Faith Seed, the one who purged our place from the Bliss._

No.

Not anymore.


	3. Chapter 3

As she felt the Bliss losing its grip on her, Ann swung her rifle on her back and started walking across the slippery bank, into the river. She didn't know if everything was connected in some way, but it actually felt like she could feel Faith _dying_ along with the Bliss wearing off. And it certainly wasn't anything like a nice feeling. Her body was numb and her temples ached. But she kept on going, plowing through the water, straight to the bright spot further up the stream. Faith had disappeared below the surface. Chances were she was already gone, but Ann had to try.

She didn't have the time to contemplate whether she was making a good choice. She also didn't care. When she finally reached the spot where the young, lifeless body was floating in the water, emitting strange, red particles that sure as hell weren't a product of her own imagination, she dived in the water and dragged Faith to the surface. Ann turned around and proceeded to walk back to the riverbank. She didn't once stop to check if she was still breathing or to stop the blood that was flowing from somewhere under her dress. She didn't want to think about it.

The Bliss was finally gone when she laid Faith down on the mossy stones and sat down. Ann pulled her knees towards herself and put her bruised hands around them, bowing her head and taking deep breaths to enjoy the fresh air.

Once she had finally managed to catch her breath, she looked up again, scanning her surroundings. Now that the green glow was gone, she could at least try to determine were they were. High above her, the bright blue sky stretched out from the big rock mass far up north, to the line of pine trees behind her. The current of the river didn't sound too strong, but it still was powerful enough to carry a bunch of loose trunks down the stream until the creek far on the left, where the water disappeared behind a couple of overhanging trees. She could also hear the sound of cars and gunfire in the distance. They probably weren't far from the main road, maybe close to Faith's bunker.

All of a sudden Faith started twitching and coughing. Joanne was quick to help her, rolling her on her side to allow her to cough up the remains of the water stuck in her lungs. Once she had spat out the last of the pale water-vomit cocktail, she brought a shaking hand to her mouth and wiped it off. Ann just watched. She thought it was quite ironic to see this girl lying in the mud like some sort of wasted hillbilly. Without the Bliss, she was just as ordinary and normal as… herself?

Apparently she had finally come enough to her senses to open her eyes and stare at the Deputy, who was still sitting. For a moment it seemed like she wasn't going to say anything and instead burst out in tears. Then, she opened her mouth and simply asked: 'Why?'

'Odd way to thank someone who just saved your ass,' Ann muttered, fishing a piece of cloth out of her pocket and starting to wrap it into the form of a bandage. Faith kept staring. As she spoke up again, her voice was weak and trembling: 'Y-you were sup-p-posed to kill me.'

'That all you can think about? I thought your show was all about compassion and whatnot.' Ann got on her knees and reached out to her side, where her dress was drenched in blood. Faith flinched, but she didn't pull back. The Deputy ripped a hole in the white cloth and inspected the wound, forehead wrinkled, sweat trickling down her nose. Then, she wetted the bandage with some liquid from a transparent orange bottle, and pressed it on the broken skin. 'This may sting a little.'

Faith hissed as the medicine began to do its work. Ann worked as quick and precise as she could, trying to remember some of the things daddy had taught her. He used to teach her a lot about patching up cattle. There wasn't the slightest resemblance of course, but at least it was something.

'I don't understand,' Faith said. 'I killed your friends. They suffered. I made you a martyr, like The Father asked.'

'Well sure, you did a lot of bad stuff and I ain't planning on forgiving you for it anytime soon, but neither am I gonna kill you for it.'

'You don't want to kill.'

Ann didn't answer. She managed to stop the bleeding and bandage up most of the wound, but it certainly wouldn't be enough. As she sat back and let out a deep sigh, she mumbled: 'Look, I don't understand much of what's going here either. But whether you lied to me or not, I ain't gonna finish you off. I don't want to.'

'What are you going to do with me then?' Faith asked, still sounding a bit unsure.

'Well, I'm gonna take you in. Like I'm supposed to. I did manage to patch you up for the most part, but you'll still need medical attention.'

'You can't.' Faith looked down, her voice sounding soft. 'They'll kill me anyway.'

'They won't. I'll make sure they won't. But you will face punishment for the shit you've done. Am I clear?'

Faith nodded. There wasn't much else she could do. She had experienced grief, anger, sadness, loneliness and fear, but the last thing she would've expected was compassion. And strangely, it wasn't anything like the compassion The Father had promised her. This was more… pure. Real. Genuine.

The Deputy got up, sighed and started to gather her gear. 'C'mon, there might be a car somewhere further up the road. Let's just hope the sheriff won't tear my head off when he sees what I'm bringing along.'


	4. Chapter 4

The trip back to the county jail was silent and tense. Faith sat on the back seat, staring at the endless amount of trees sliding by. The station car bumped along the road, gravel spurting from the screeching tires. Ann had been silent since their encounter at the riverbank. So had Faith. Both were lost in their own trains of thought, speculating about what they would find at the jail. Last time they both saw it, half of the building had been on fire and overran by cultists. There was no doubt that the resistance had managed to get it under control again, especially after Ann's help, but there sure would be casualties. And they would want someone to pay for them.

Faith thought about Tracey, wondered if she'd been able to make it out. Of course she had. The attack had come as a great surprise, as she had meant to, but she doubted it would be enough to take down the girl. Out of all the members of the resistance (and with that, she meant the small portion that hadn't succumbed to the Bliss or jumped off the statue), she was probably one of the most fiercest. The last time they had spoken (which now seemed like an entirety ago), she had tried to persuade her to come home and not join the cult. She had not listened. Back then, she must've realized that Tracey was right, but she just felt so _alone_. Eden's Gate gave her a family, a home.

 _No that's not true it's a goddamn lie and you know it Forgive me, Father_

Of course, Tracey was angry. From that moment on, she had probably tried her best to deny their friendship to every person she happened to ran into. Maybe even burned down their old hangout near Sacred Skies, too. Likely with the help of 'Mr. _fucking_ Buttburn'. Who was that again?

Oh, right, now she remembered – the Boshaw fella. Sharky. She'd find him a strange guy, but not in a bad sense. Back when she used to hang out with Tracey, when they were teenagers, he always invited his friends and neighbors to his shed to look at his newest inventions (which mostly involved a lot of gasoline and things that could somehow explode). And because he'd always been considerably better at burning things to the ground than doing his homework, Tracey had nicknamed him 'Mr. Buttburn'. Knowing Sharky, he probably adopted it as his official title as well.

Faith found herself smiling at these memories as she stared at her scratched hands. Then she saw the deputy's eyes in the rear-view mirror and quickly looked down again. Things continued to be quiet after that. Not to mention the uneasiness that was still lingering between them, like some sort of electric wire.

The voice piping up and repeating the question as they hit the road was however not Faith's, but the deputy's: 'Why didn't you kill me?'

Faith looked up. 'What?'

'When you… when you first captured me… damn, you got me high as a kite with that crack of yours. You could just have let me jumped off that statue.'

'I guess…'

'So why didn't you do it?'

'I don't know.' she mumbled. 'The Father didn't want me to.'

Ann snickered. 'Right. You're sending herds of drugged lunatics after me, but you don't want to kill me when you've got the perfect opportunity.'

Faith bit her lip. 'Well, it's not like I didn't want to… but it's… it's more like I couldn't do it. There was something… special about you.'

'Special?'

'Yeah. You weren't like the others. I took you up the mountain, like I did with everyone, and I tried to get you to climb the statue and jump from it… but you just didn't. You kept standing at the landing pit, just staring at me. Then… I don't know. I guess I figured it was meant to be. You were just like The Father described you. You were the one that wouldn't fall as easy as the others. We had to try to accept you into our family.'

'Well, that backfired, didn't it.' Ann remarked with a snort. They passed an green camouflage truck, mounted with a giant machine gun. They were probably on their way to the bunker. Maybe she should turn around and go help with the attack, but then again, they would be just fine without her help. Not to mention the fact that they wouldn't expect her anytime soon when they thought she was off battling Faith – and maybe she could benefit from that.

'Why would you want to know, though?' Faith asked after a little while. Ann sighed. 'I just… I try to find some reasonable explanation for all of this nonsense shit. Proper logic. Maybe it's the same as yours. Maybe we ain't that different after all. You didn't want to kill me, and that pretty much goes for me as well.'

'You didn't?' Faith asked, now sounding rather surprised.

Ann sighed. 'Look, I… I think we've gotten ourselves in a situation we all don't fully comprehend. I need some time to figure it all out. Just don't think that I'm playing along with your 'destined special one' shit, alright? Let's focus on what matters now. We're about to hit the jail and I don't think they'll all be as forgiving as me.'

Faith cringed a little. 'W-what do you think they'll do to me?'

Ann didn't respond. They were fairly close to the prison now; she could already see the big sign in the far distance. 'Just let me do the talking. I'll go try to convince them.'

Silence. The car ran over a big rock on the road; it was launched to the side and disappeared in the tall gras under the trees.

'Oh, and Faith?'

'Yes?'

'Don't try to do anything. _Please_ don't.'

The car turned to the left and the jail was now right ahead of them. Apart from some clouds of grey smoke rising up and drifting in the direction of Holland Valley, there was no sign that there had been an attack in the past hour.

And just as they pulled up to the gate, a quiet, but honest voice in the back of the car said: 'I won't. Promise.'


	5. Chapter 5

Tracey had been helping to move some members to the med room when she saw sheriff Whitehorse sitting on his bed, rubbing his head. She quickly ran towards him, a broad smile on her face. 'About time, sleepy head. I thought you'd never wake up. How you holding up?'

'Like shit. My whole head feels like one of Rae-Rae's goddamn prizewinners.' The sheriff turned his head to the ceiling, shielding his eyes from the bright fluorescent tubes. 'Everything's just like one big blur. What happened?'

'Well, they attacked the jail.'

'Who? Faith?'

Tracey nodded. 'She… she got the marshal to kill… fucking hell, Earl, I told you it was a stupid idea to bring that junkie in. He was long gone, even before Rook took him in.'

Whitehorse frowned. 'Why? Tracey, what did he do?'

She couldn't help it, but there was a big lump she had to swallow before she finally managed to get her voice neutral: 'It's Virgil, sheriff. That bitch killed Virgil. And the marshal straight after him.'

'Jesus.' Whitehorse got up, wobbling on his knees. Tracey reached forward to help him, but he just gently slapped her hand away. 'I'm sorry, Tracey. I didn't know. I thought we could still help him. I didn't mean–'

'I know, I know. I ain't blaming you. Hell, there wasn't even time to grief – I was too busy worrying if I'd ever see your face again. Faith took you with her once she sent her fucking groupies to finish us off. Thank god Rook arrived shortly after that. We found you just outside the bunker, walking around some field, or something.'

'Rook? Shit, is she okay?'

Tracey shrugged. 'I don't know. She went after Faith. I think she's alright though, she was a bit shaken up after what happened to Virgil, but she did take up her gun and ran straight off.'

'And you just let her?' The sheriff started stumbling to the door, now looking more like a drunken sailor on a capsizing ship. Tracey quickly followed him, pulling him back. 'Sit down. You nearly got a damn overdose, take some time to recover. Ann will be fine. She'll put that bitch down and she'll make her pay for it.'

'That's not the point, alright? That fucking Bliss ain't like anything she's been through. We have to help her.'

'Sheriff, no. I know she means a lot to you, but you'd be just be a burden right now. You can't even walk straight. Just let her handle her shit and everything will be just fine.'

Whitehorse hesitated for a moment, then finally agreed and sat back down on his bed. 'Alright, but if she's not back within an hour, I want people out to find her. No, make that half an hour.'

'Fine.'

'Are there any other casualties? Lindsey doing okay?'

'Yeah, he's alright. Patching up some folks right now. We have a few wounded, just some scratches and bullet wounds, nothing major. But they're all pretty upset about… about Virgil.'

'As they should be.' Whitehorse pinched the bridge of his nose, then grunted as he found himself dozing off again. 'Oh god, it's happening again.'

Tracey reached out again, helping him to lay down. 'It's fine, Earl. We got you. Just lay down, I'll get you some meds.'

'Tracey,' he mumbled, 'find… find Ann…'

The sheriff drifted away.

— —

When he woke up again, Tracey stood right next to his bed and was shaking him so hard that she almost pushed him off it. 'Earl, Earl, wake up, goddamnit!'

'I'm awake!' he shouted, pushing her away. 'I'm awake. For Christ's sake, what's going on? Are we under attack? Again?'

'What? No, of course not. McCallough's son just radioed that he saw Dep passing by. You know him right, from the gas st-'

'Yeah, I know who he is,' the sheriff replied, getting up, blinking his eyes and reaching for his glasses. 'Was he really sure?'

'Well, he did see a station car passing by and he swore to god he'd seen Dep driving it. Maybe even someone in the backseat, too.'

'Could be someone from the Resistance.'

'Yeah, maybe. So what do you say? Let's get out there and welcome her?'

'Alright, let's go,' The sheriff tumbled towards the door, occasionally throwing his hands around to find walls to lean on. Tracey followed him, shaking her head, small grin on her face. They walked through the main hall, passing the gun shop in the process (manned by a young girl who could nothing but stare in surprise as she saw the old man passing by, swaying like a boozer) and then finally though the door to the courtyard. Whitehorse stopped to lean down for a moment, leaning on his knees, taking deep breaths to get rid of the flashing dots before his eyes. 'Dear god. Take this as a life lesson, Tracey, never do drugs. It feels like my mind is about to tap dance the hell outta here.'

'Don't worry sheriff, wasn't planning on trying it out anytime soon.' she smiled. 'Hey, let me get the gate open for you. Most of the danger's probably gone anyway.'

The sheriff just coughed something as a response. Tracey headed over to the checkpoint booth. As she turned some keys and punched in the access code, she couldn't help but think about everything that happened. Last time she saw that gate open, she was on the other side, holding her bleeding side and looking for something which still resembled home in the fucking war zone Hope County had turned into. Virgil was there, too. She hadn't thought much of the hefty, sweet-natured mayor before everything went to shit (and that included his annoying habit of attending every ball game, running around the field and acting more like a mascot than the guy in the cougar suit did), but he had been there for her when she stumbled through the gate. He had held her, comforted her when she cried about the home and the friends she lost. He had his flaws, sure. They all did. To say he'd more or less become a father figure to her after that was probably an understatement.

 _CLUNK._ She quickly jumped up, hand reaching behind her back, where she had tucked her gun behind her belt. No, false alarm. It was just the gate. She'd been lost in her thoughts again. It probably wouldn't be the first time for some while, either.

Once she rejoined the sheriff at the now open gate, they saw a red station car approaching, slowing down. Whitehorse held a hand above his eyes, cursing the fact he forgot his hat at the med room, and sighed in relief. 'Thank god, it's her. It's Ann. She made it.'

Tracey now saw her, too. She looked a bit disheveled and she didn't seem very relieved upon seeing them, but to be fair, she couldn't blame her. She noticed there was someone in the backseat as well, but it was too dark to make out a clear appearance.

…Or was it?

'Rook!' the sheriff shouted as soon as she got out of the car. 'Jesus Christ, Rook, I almost thought-'

'Sheriff, stay back.' she said, stopping him in his tracks. Tracey looked closer now. She could almost make out some light brown hair.

'Ann, I don't know what-'

'Fucking hell!' Tracey suddenly shouted, reaching for her gun. 'It's that witch! Earl, she brought Faith!'

'Tracey, no!' Ann shouted as she jumped in front of her and put her hands up. 'I can explain, okay? Just put that gun away,'

Tracey lowered the gun a bit, though she didn't keep her eyes off Faith, occasionally glaring aside to give the Deputy a venomous glance. 'She drugged you, didn't she? Hell, you're probably pumped with that fucking Bliss.'

'No, I'm completely clean. Go ahead, check me.'

'Earl?' The sheriff nodded, and took a few cautious steps towards the deputy. He narrowed his eyes, then sighed and bowed his head. 'It's alright. Her pupils ain't dilated, she isn't affected.'

Tracey hesitated for a moment, then grunted and tucked the gun back behind her belt. 'Well, fine, then. But you better have a goddamn good reason for bringing that monster out here instead of putting her down.'

Ann sighed. 'Look, I- I know what she's done, and I ain't saying it's right… but I don't want to.'

'Don't want to do what?'

'Kill her.'

Tracey pulled a face. 'For real?'

'C'mon, Rook, what's going on?' Whitehorse asked. 'What did she say to you?'

Ann shrugged. 'Not much. I stood there, right, and I got her. She was bleeding out in the river. I could've just left her, but I just… when I saw her floating there, helpless, I just felt sick of all the death and murder. I didn't want to leave her there.'

'Rook, you know what she did to Vir-'

'Yes, I _fucking_ well know,' she said, gritting her teeth. 'And don't think that I'll ever forgive her for it. But it's just… what's the fucking point of sending me out there to slaughter everyone off? They'll just keep coming. And all the while I'm supposed to keep gunning them down. Like animals. All the people who were once your neighbors and your friends, hell, even the local mailman. Not all of them willingly chose to go down this road.'

'They made a choice, Dep,' Tracey said, voice shivering. 'And their so-called god ain't gonna make them regret it.'

'So what, you just send me out to murder them all? They're human beings, for fucks sake. Not what you would call fresh ones, but still. Not all of them chose to be like this with the right state of mind. Like Faith. Once I defeated her, she didn't laugh, she didn't tell me I was pathetic and blind and all that shit. No, she cried for her goddamn life. Screamed that that Seed fella drugged her.'

'Oh, great, so you just fell for it. She's a fucking manipulator, Dep. This is what she does. Do you really believe anything she says?'

'Well, you tell me, Tracey.' Ann countered. 'After all, you've been friends with her before she joined the cult. You know what happened to her and if she'd been using the needle. Tell me, is she telling the truth?'

Tracey went surprisingly quiet after that. Ann shook her head, turning to the sheriff. 'Look, if you want to put her down, go ahead. But I don't want to be any part of it. I'm sick of being your damn executioner.'

'That's… that's okay, Rook- Ann, sorry. Just… just give us some time to talk about it, okay?'

The Deputy simply shrugged. Whitehorse nodded to Tracey and they both walked back to the gate. Once they were out of sight, he let out a deep sigh, and rubbed his head. 'Well, I suppose we could give it a chance.'

'Sheriff, are you fucking kidding? All of this-' - she gestured to the jail - 'happened because of her. And you just want to let her straight back in?'

'Look, I know the risks, but Ann does kinda have a point. And I trust her.'

'Yeah, we know how that trust of yours' been working out last time.'

'Tracey, I won't have you judging my decisions,' he said more firmly, 'we'll be more cautious this time. But if she's right about what she says, we should see if we could help her. It's what Virgil would've wanted.'

'Don't you _fucking_ dare trying to bring him into this,' she hissed, 'if you want to risk the lives of everyone in this place, go ahead, take her in. But don't count on any support from me.'

'That's alright, I don't expect you to.' He sighed. 'We'll see how it goes, okay? I'll double the guards and we'll lock her up in one of the cells. Permanently. Rook can look after her since she's so eager about it.'

'Whatever. I'm going to help preparing the funeral. At least some people still care about this place.'

And with that, she walked back to the building, leaving the sheriff at the gate. He kept staring at his shoes for a while, then let out a deep sigh, and walked out to gesture the Deputy to bring Faith. For some reason, he had the eerie feeling that this would just be the first of a long chain of big problems.

Sheriff Whitehorse didn't have a clue just how right he was.


	6. Chapter 6

Night fell over Hope County. As the moon rose to take its place amongst the stars, reflecting in the calm water of the Henbane, a thick, intoxicating smell filled the air. Tens of great fires lit up against the shadows of the dark hills, marking the burning Bliss fields. It was a night of which people thought it was the first step back to the old days, although no one, even the fiercest members of the Resistance, didn't doubt that it still would be a hell of a long journey.

Sheriff Whitehorse attended the funeral, like everyone else at the jail did. They carried his body in a coffin (made out of the wood of old apple boxes) to the wall, then each of them spoke a few words about him, occasionally stopping to shed some tears. Tracey delivered the eulogy, though she barely managed to properly pronounce the words, her voice shaking and her eyes red and wet.

After they had lowered the coffin into the grave and buried him, Whitehorse went looking for Ann. He hadn't seen her at the funeral, but he had no doubt that she must have been looking from somewhere. She wasn't at the holding cells, where Faith was now locked up, peacefully curled up and sleeping on her bed. She wasn't at the med room or Lindsey's either. Eventually, he did find her; she was on the small terrace on the roof right next to the small site of the courtyard where Virgil was buried. When he opened the door and strolled out in the clammy air, he found her leaning against the wall, quickly lowering her bottle to wipe her eyes out. Whitehorse gave her a friendly nod and took a bottle out of the crate on the floor, then leaned against the wall, too, taking his hat off. No one spoke up for a while. At last, the Deputy sighed and said: "Well, c'mon, I know you're disappointed in me."

"Dissapointed?" he asked, raising his eyebrows. "Hell no, far from, Dep. These people owe you a lot. If it weren't for you, I'd be shoveling around in some Bliss field right now."

"Well, yeah, but I don't feel like I'm doing myself any good with it."

"That's fair. No one's blaming you for trying to be human. Same goes for the whole Faith matter, I think. You just try to do what you think is right."

"Not right according to everyone," Ann mumbled.

"You judging them for it? Don't forget that these folks have been through a lot, Ann. They've lost their lives and their homes. People, too. You can't blame them for trying to defend the little they've left."

They were interrupted for a moment by a young woman falling on her knees at Virgil's grave, crying that she would never forget him. Tracey gently approached her, taking her by her shoulders and leading her back to the building.

"You know, sometimes I feel like that's the whole fucking issue." Ann continued. "I didn't grow up here. I don't know this place the way you do. I just don't want everything left of it to be blown up and slaughtered off by people who've forgotten who they are. But apparently, everyone just finds me weak for thinking that. You need people like Hudson and Pratt."

"If I thought I'd just need them, I wouldn't have brought you along in the first place. Hudson and Pratt are fine people, but they don't handle things the way you do. There's a reason the cult is interested in you. You ain't one to give up easily, but you also understand it takes more than gunning down a couple of Peggies to save this place. And you know what? I think a lot of folks feel the same way about you. They don't see you as a symbol of hope for nothin'."

"You… you really think so?" Ann said, beginning to tear up again. Whitehorse smiled. "Damn right. For an outsider, you're doing damn well. I ain't lying when I say you're the best that happened to this county in a long, long time. Now, you come here and let go of that stress, kid."

Ann nodded, came up to him and hugged the sheriff in a warm embrace. He gently stroked her back. Once she let go, she took a deep breath and rubbed her eyes. "Thanks. I could use that, I guess."

"I figured." the sheriff grinned.

"Faith's still gonna be an issue, though."

"Yeah, you didn't exactly pick the easiest person to begin with. On the other hand, if we manage to… to get her back to normal, that would give off a good signal to a helluva lot of people."

"I guess so. What about Tracey?"

"Well, for now, there's not much we can do. I'm not sure if things will work out. Right now facts are that we lost the mayor, and he meant a lot to the people here. Most of them will find it hard to accept that the guy they grew up with is no longer here. Some may even want revenge for it."

"You think she's in danger?"

"Well, I wouldn't say she is right now, but we will have to be more careful. After all, Joseph Seed won't just accept that you took his little sister."

"She isn't his sister, though."

"Yeah, you know that and I know that, but it won't make any difference for Tracey and the others. Maybe she'll get over it, eventually. But until then, we can't just go sit on our asses and think everything will play out like that." He snapped his fingers. "We need to give it some time. At least try to get her clean again before everything goes to shit."

"Don't worry, I'll look after her."

Whitehorse sighed. He looked at the grave, then at the beautiful black sky and the fire on the hill on the other side of the river. "You do know it'll be quite the responsibility, right?"

"Yes, sheriff. But I wouldn't offer to do it if I knew it'd be impossible."

"Yeah, fair point." He sighed. "Alright, then. You take care of her. I'll keep an eye out and see what I can do. Just... let me get this straight, Ann; if shit's up, she s out. I can't ensure the safety of this jail once people start to get rowdy."

"I get it, sheriff."

They were quiet again after that. They saw the carlights of a truck further up the main road. Suddenly, it honked and went out of the way; Ann thought she saw a dark shadow sprinting across the road. Probably a deer.

"Sheriff?"

"Hm?"

"What's her name? Her real name, I mean."

"Uh," He thought for a second. "Jessop. Rachel Jessop."

"Alright. Thanks. Also for the chance, and, y'know, the trust."

"My pleasure, kid." he said. "My pleasure."


End file.
